Friday October 11th, 2002

Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya escaped injury following a heavy crash during today's free practice for the Japanese Grand Prix.

The first day of the last race of the season was marked by two crashes, with Canadian Jacques Villeneuve veering into the tyre barriers in the first session and Colombian Montoya in the second. Neither driver was hurt although Montoya's sideways impact in the Williams looked a hard one.

Montoya, who admitted he was still sore after the accident, ended the day fourth quickest while teammate Ralf Schumacher was placed fifth and just ahead of his older brother.

"It was a smooth session if it hadn't been for the last part of it," admitted the Colombian. "In the last minutes I had a bad crash which damaged my car quite heavily. I went on the throttle like always and I thought I was going to make the corner fine but instead I went over the sharp part of the kerb and lost the car.

"The impact was hard and I am still a bit sore. With regards to the balance of my car there's still room for improvement."

The Colombian, currently in third place in the Championship, will have the last chance of scoring his first Grand Prix win of the season at Suzuka.

Published at 06:46:54 GMT